Mexico: Stranded Tourists Airlifted From Acapulco

Mexico began airlifting hundreds of stranded tourists to Mexico City from Acapulco on Tuesday after a tropical storm flooded highways, the airport and some hotels at the faded and violent Pacific resort town. It was another blow to the city, once a playground for the Hollywood set but now struggling to overcome organized crime violence and a passé reputation. Days of heavy rain from the storm, as well as another on the Gulf Coast, have sent rivers of mud cascading through scores of cities and villages on both coasts, leaving an estimated 47 people dead and thousands homeless, one of the highest storm tolls in Mexico in recent years. Although many hotels in Acapulco were undamaged, some began rationing food and other provisions because of power failures and the inability of workers or trucks to get through flooded streets on the outskirts to supply them.